missio Dei – “Mission of God”
As we recall St. John’s account of Resurrection Sunday, we are given a mission – not just any mission – but the missio Dei…the mission of God. Hear Jesus speak to his disciples: “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you…Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld” (John 20:21-23).
The Father sends the Son. Everything begins with God. Salvation starts with God. God the Father sends God the Son from the lofty heights of heaven to a banal existence on earth to bring His grace to bear the forgiveness of sins for everyone, everywhere.
The Father and the Son send the Holy Spirit. That’s our confession of what the Bible teaches: “And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified…” (Nicene Creed). “Receive the Holy Spirit,” Jesus says. “He comes from the Father and me.”
The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit send the Church. “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” We do not gather to wait for people to catch up; we’re sent; we’re pointed in a direction with marching orders, moving from a holy place into a secular world with the very grace of God. “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven…”
Each of us – all of us – is given the missio Dei, without exception and without excuse. Jesus says, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses…” (Acts 1:8). Peter tells us, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellences of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9).
In your neighborhood, your workplace, your school – maybe, even your family – there is someone who doesn’t know of God’s grace in Christ. You are God’s “sent one” to them. You are on the missio Dei, sent from him to “proclaim the excellences of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” So, “let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).
